the voice repeated. "Awaiting data transfer."
Kael took a breath, tasted the metallic tang of thinning air, and broke into a heavy, lung-burning run. Continue to Checkpoint 1 [file]
But between him and the airlock lay a fifty-yard stretch of unstable permafrost, and the wind was picking up. the voice repeated
Kael looked at his oxygen gauge: 12%. The "file" he carried—a physical encrypted drive tethered to his wrist—felt heavier than the lead casing suggested. It contained the terraforming bypass codes, the only thing that could stop the colony’s atmospheric processors from venting the remaining oxygen into the void. Kael looked at his oxygen gauge: 12%
He forced his boots to move, the magnetic locks clunking against the metallic catwalk of the exterior ridge. Below him, the lights of the Valles Marineris colony were dimming as the power grid failed. "I'm moving," he rasped, his voice catching on the dry air.